As Time Goes
by BVtBear
Summary: One shot. Time has passed for Shikamaru and Temari, what changes will they see in each other?


**Reposted with a couple of changes. Comments welcome. **

**As Time Goes **

It had been the one time in his life when he had to really think. Shikamaru was known for thinking -he was praised for it- but it never felt like thinking. He had always been calm, had always taken his time -nothing was ever irrational, rushed. But for the first time in his life he had been scared, he had seriously considered running away from it all because the shinobi life was not for him. He was not meant to be a ninja.

And then he realized that he wasn't thinking at all. His fears had gotten the best of him, his emotions were overruling all logical thought. When his father called him a coward, it hurt. It made him mad. Until he recognized he deserved the name. Finding out that his friends were going to be O.K. despite his stupid mistakes… He decided 'coward' would never be used to describe him again. He would become stronger. Not just for himself, but for his friends too.

So it would be the last time he would remember shedding tears and it would be the last time he would doubt himself. And when the day came to say goodbye to the shinobi of the sand, he made a simple promise to the only girl of the three: "I'll be stronger next time." She only grinned and said goodbye and that had been the last he had seen of her for a very long time.

He trained and trained. Enough so he could put the past behind him. Until one day, the Fifth gave him the duty of receiving messengers from the Sand. He hadn't thought about her until she appeared. And she didn't look any different. As he walked with her, Shikamaru wondered if it had really been two years.

"So he's Kazekage now?"

Temari nodded, curiously looking around the village. Leaf had recovered well. "There's another side to Gaara that you guys wouldn't know."

He couldn't help but to snort. "Yeah, well, all we saw was the part of him that was bent on destroying the village."

"He's changed."

"I know."

She sped up a little, so she could turn around and face him as they walked. She gave him a cocky grin. "But it looks like some things don't. Have you gotten smarter or stupider?"

"A little of both."

She laughed and began walking next to him again. "And the emotional counseling?"

He felt his cheeks redden. He looked away. "I got that."

She laughed again. "Good. Although I gotta say, you don't look much stronger. I could probably kick your ass."

He nodded. "Aa."

He concluded that she hadn't changed at all. The only difference was that, around her, his heart beat a little faster.

It was troublesome, but the Fifth had made her decision. For the next Chuunin Exam, (which was to occur in a little over six months) Shikamaru would be one of the examiners. It had been the reason why Temari had been called over to Leaf: to strengthen the bond between the two villages. And as much as he didn't like the idea of having responsibility for the exam, he didn't mind some of things that happened because of it. For one thing, he was seeing the fan girl more often. And because it was usually just the two of them, they had quickly gotten used to each other's company.

She was pushy. And at the beginning, she had gotten into the habit of overlooking everything he did. He wondered if it was a trust issue, and at one point, he grew so annoyed with her that he told her she could run the exam herself. She settled down a bit after that, sometimes wondering to herself why she opposed him in the first place…

She knew smart people, she had been raised by and lived with geniuses all her life. She had just never noticed that there were different types of genius. He wasn't like any she had ever met. He wasn't patronizing or arrogant, he wasn't selfish…he was just very honest about himself. He simply accepted being who he was. She wondered if this was what bothered her the most. Shikamaru was comfortable being Shikamaru. He never claimed or wanted to be anything else. He was incredibly calm and later on she learned he liked to space out a lot. His joy in the world was spending time looking at clouds! He was a dedicated, simple, trustworthy person.

For the first time, she felt at ease with someone.

They ended up doing things together after having finished the day's work. Sometimes he would meet up with Chouji for barbeque and he would invite her to come along. The first time, she laughed, because she remembered how her brother had wondered if barbeque was their reward for doing good work. He had frowned and asked her if she was like Ino.

"It's stupid. She doesn't need to diet to be thin and neither do you."

She laughed again. He was such a surprising person sometimes.

They found other things to do. She found that her favorite was sitting out in the fields before she was due to leave. Sometimes they talked and sometimes they didn't. But no matter what, she was content.

For the first time, Temari felt like she had found a true friend. She had always wondered what it would have felt like. And then she wondered if she felt a little more.

They had an hour before she had to go, and seeing that it was good weather, they naturally moved to the fields. To be truthful, Temari liked coming to Leaf. It was such a contrast to Sand, she had never really known what it was like to be in nature, in something that was not barren and alone. Shikamaru introduced her to the 'best fields': the best ones for stargazing, best ones for cloud watching, best ones for catching a nice breeze on a hot day. After working with him for a couple of weeks, Temari had learned to accept Shikamaru's company, although part of her denied that she actually liked it.

Strangely, it was Shikamaru who broke their mutual silence, by looking up at the sky and saying, "Hey, did I ever end up thanking you?"

Temari looked up as well. She gave a big sigh and fell to her back. "Eh? For what?"

"The time you saved my ass from getting killed."

"Oh." The sun was too bright. She draped her arm over her eyes. "You might've gotten out of it. But you're welcome."

He shook his head. "I couldn't think of anything else. I was going to die."

"Feeling depressed?"

"No."

She tore off a blade of grass and stuck it in her mouth. It tasted bitter. She chewed on it anyway. "Then…"

"I don't know. I just think I was remembering how part of me was ashamed. Or embarrassed. Maybe both."

"For failing your first mission?"

"Not just that. For being saved by a girl."

She felt anger rushing through her. It left as quickly as it came. She couldn't take it personally. "Hey, that whole 'girl being weaker than guy' thing is bullshit."

"I know. But I made you a promise, didn't I?"

She sat back up. "And?"

"I think I kept it."

She turned to look at him. He was already looking at her. "Are you asking me for a fight?"

His brown eyes widened. He shook his head, chuckling. "No. But I know that I'm stronger. I'm not embarrassed to meet your eyes."

She stared. And then burst out laughing. She held her hand out in apology, catching a breath-full of air, looking at his annoyed face, and laughing all over again.

"God." Her hand was on her chest, she was on the verge of tears. "I don't know whether that was an insult or a compliment."

He snorted. He was turning red.

"Sometimes I think you think too much," she told him seriously. "If you want to say something, just say it. But since you're too much of a wuss, I'll do it for you."

Her fingers curled around his vest and she roughly pulled him forward. Her mouth found his and he let out a small grunt. His first reaction was to pull away, but her grip didn't allow him to budge. And then she did this thing with her tongue…and he decided that he wanted to stay after all. He wasn't a coward. And besides, what she was doing felt nice.


End file.
